"Too Soon To Say Goodbye"

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

I just finished watching the CNN interview with Art Buchwald and his friend Bill Bradlee. Artie is one of my heroes, and I have only come to know his friend William Styron recently, upon reading his courageous memoir "Darkness Visible". I am still a bit choked up, because I can see the depth of their genuine friendship, and share with them the plague of that demon Winston Churchill called "the black dog". CNN showed a photograph of the three entitled "Three Depressed Men", picturing them walking side-by-side in the rain, their hoodies upturned, their faces showing all the insults of age, sheepish grins on their faces... I could tell that they enjoyed being together, and the easy familiarity between Buchwald and Bradlee in this interview reveals this also.

Watching Art Buchwald fight his way through illness and chronic depression is a huge learning experience. He has always worn his heart on his sleeve - so completely open about his emotional life and doubts and fears that it can be quite moving to see, especially to one more accustomed to guarding those thoughts from public view.